The Trojan War by Barry Strauss
I. Ancient history
A. Greek city states at their prime 750-732 BC
a. Archaic Age 750-323 BC
b. 480-323 Classical Period
B. Then Alexander the Great conquered all of Greece and Persia and the
Hellinistic Age began. 323-30 BC
C. After that came the Roman Empire that lasted until 476 AD when it
then split into barbarian kingdoms in the West and Byzantine Empire
in the East
II. Prehistoric times
A. Greek Dark Ages – before writing – 1150-750BC
B. Iron Age 1000 BC – 1 AD
C. Bronze Age – 3000-1000 BC
a. That is the setting for this story
b. 3 stages
i. Early 3000-2100 BC
ii. Middle 2100-1600
iii. Late 1600-1150
III. Stratigraphy
a. Method most archaeologists use to date what they find
b. Study of layers of material dug from earth—usually
i. Ex. City of Troy
ii. Dozen separate layers during the Bronze Age
iii. Troy sits in a region called Anatolia, differs from the mainland
of Greece
c. Additional source of discovery is from shipwrecks
i. 3 major finds off the coast of Turkey and 1 off Greece from
ships from the Bronze Age
IV. Bronze Age civilizations in Greece
a. Myceneans – spoke Greek and worshipped Greek gods
i. Late Bronze Age – warrior kingdoms of Mycenae, Thebes,
Tiryns and Pylos
ii. Called themselves Aecaeans or Danaans, 2 terms Homer uses
for them
iii. Sailors, soldiers, raiders and traders
iv. Conquered Crete in 1490 BC and took over the Aegean Islands
and what is present day Turkey
v. Main rival were the Hittites
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vi. If the Trojan War occurred, it was during the Mycenean Age,
before the fall of this civilizaion in the 1100 BC
b. Hittites
i. Located on the Anatolian plateau, main city of Hattusha
ii. Wanted to expand into Syria
iii. 1000s of their clay tablets survive written in their language
iv. Numerous other writing systems show other civilizations –
Egyptians, Assyrians, Akkadian from Mesopotamia (Iraq)
c. Another famous kingdom was Wilsua, place Greeks called Troy
i. Troy was a great city from 3000-950 BC
ii. Waves of people lived there – destroyed by tragedy such as
earthquake, fire, war and then rebuilt
iii. Ruins reveal gold, artistic treasures, palaces
d. Main texts on the Trojan War
i. Iliad, Odyssey
ii. 6 Poems known as the Epic Cycle
iii. Art, painting and sculpture
INTRODUCTION TO THE TROJAN WAR
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Heinrich Shliemann
a. An archaeologist in 1871 declared he found a mound near the
entrance of the Dardenelles with the ruins of Troy
b. Considered a fraud, relied on earlier discovery of Frank Calvert
c. Still, work since then may have put his excavations on a more
scientific basis
Recent digs since 1988 show Homer was right
a. Troy was about 75 acres in size, a city of gold amid fields of wheat
b. Hittite texts also refer to Troy or Ilion as Wilusa
c. Its architecture looks like an Anatolian city
Greeks were considered the Vikings of the Bronze Age
a. Took to the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas to conquer Crete,
Anatolia, Cyprus, then onto Troy
Trojan War probably occurred about 1200 BC
a. Here is how Homer describes it – lived in 700 BC
i. Wealthy city of Troy against all of Greece
ii. Largest war ever fought – over 100,000 men in each army
and 1184 Greek ships
iii. Had heroic champions on each side and the Olympian gods
iv. Cause of the war was seduction of Helen
v. Most of the war fight by raiding the Trojan plains
vi. In 9th year Greek army nearly fell apart because of mutiny
by Achilles over a woman Briseis
1. Agamemnon had unjustly taken her
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V.
vii. Agamemnon then led the army and most of the Iliad is
about their 4 days on the battle front
1. Trojans take advantage of Achilles absence are led
by Hector and nearly push the Greeks back to the
sea
2. When Achilles close friend Patroclus is killed while
leadings the men back, Achilles gets armor from the
gods, then kills Hector and drags his body around
until he finally gives in to King Priam’s request for
its return. Illiad ends with Hector’s
cremation/funeral.
viii. Odyssey tells about how Odysseus returns from the war
1. It has flashback that describes his brilliant trick –
the Trojan horse
2. Also shows Helen returning to Sparta with Menelaus
ix. Aeneas becomes king of Troy after Greeks depart and Troy
is rebuilt; this is in famous epic by Virgil called the Aeneid
Recent archaeological discoveries show Homer was pretty accurate
a. Western Anatolia was like the Poland of the Late Bronze Age
b. Rich source of booty for the Greeks
c. Difficult to conquer because it was in a swamp – hard access for
chariots
d. Most battles a series of raids – found arrowheads, spearheads and
sling stones
REASON WAR BEGAN – WAR FOR HELEN
A. Homer depicts cause as Paris’ seduction of Helen, but could be other
reasons
a. She was daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta, or some say Zeus,
and her mother was Leda or Nemesis.
b. She may have been ambitious preferring to live in Troy—women
had more freedom and power there
c. King Menelaus described in Iliad as well built warrior with red
hair. But god Apollo describes him as “soft spearman”, feeble
warrior. Brother of King Agamemnon of Mycenae.
d. Their daughter’s name was Hermione and Helen left her behind
e. Paris may have captured Helen as a way to advance his royal
position in Troy
B. Bronze Age – preferred to describe events based on personalities rather
than abstractions, but it was a time of conflict
a. Looming conflict between Troy and Greece
b. Troy became a vassal state to the Hittites in exchange for their
military protections. Troy had great wealth – cattle, vineyards,
threshing floors, fields and sheep
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c. Greeks wanted to conquer islands under Hittite control and to do
that needed to go through Troy
d. When Paris took Helen also took substantial loot – generations
worth of gold, bronze, silver, ivory artifacts
C. Royal marriage alliance, royal seduction was act of war
a. Greek kings knew war would keep fighting men busy and great
opportunity for plunder
b. In Bronze Age, didn’t need much reason to figt – conquest was its
own reward, got property and slaves
c. Women then viewed as commodity
i. Wife stealing an old custom
START OF THE WAR
I. King Agamemnon – 6 feet tall, greatest king in Greece, rich with powerful
army and navy, his palace made chariots, bronze breasplates and
arrowheads and stabled horses, controlled infantry and bowmen
II. Soldiers who accompanied him on his quest to take Troy
a. Nestor, from Pylos, most eloquent of the Greeks
b. Odysseus, lord of Ithaca and other islands—called himself “sacker of
cities”
c. Philoctetes – great archer from area near Mts. Ossa and Pelion
d. Menelaus – king of Sparta
e. Diomedes – youngest general champion “of the great war cry”
f. Ajax, son of Telamom of Salmas, Greater Ajax – both brains and brawn
g. Ajax, son of Oileus of Locris, Lesser Ajax, hot blooded bruiser
h. Protesilaus of Thessaly
i. Idomeneus of Crete, island grabbed from the Minoans
j. Tlepolemus, son of Heracles, a thug who murdered his great uncle and
moved to Rhodes
k. Achilles, greated warrior
III. Massive support personnel
a. Fighting men, priests, physicians, scribes, heralds, grooms, cooks,
stable hands, metalworkers, etc.
IV. Set off from Aulis, 3 days sail from Troy, at foot of Mt. Messapion above the
Gulf of Euboea
a. Goddess Artemis upset at Agamemnon – maybe because of his
bragging, his slaying of one her sacred animals, no one sure
b. To make wind stop Agamemnon agreed to killing of his daughter
Iphigenia – child sacrifice common then
c. Greek sailors strong and ships well run
i. Had galleys, hollow ships that were rowed
1. 50 oars with 25 rowers sitting alongside the hull, 90
feet long
2. also had 20 oared ships, 35 feet long
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ii. Homer exaggerated number of ships and men
1. Excavators at Troy claim city population was about
5000-7500 people
2. Greeks greatly outnumbered Trojans, so probably there
were about 15,000 men in each army, 300 Greek ships
d. Finally favorable day came, about to set off and do last slaughter of
bull at the altar, when bad omen, Homer reported. Snake crawled up
the altar and onto a tree where found and killed sparrow and her
chicks. Then snake turned to stone. Everyone knew only Zeus could
have done that – scared them.
e. Sailed from Aulis to Ilion – eventually landed on the beach
i. Lost surprise advantage because got lost en route, went to
Aulis, then to Scyros, then to Lymnos, then to Mysia, where
King Telephus told them how to get to Troy.
ii. Hector struck the first blow – he was a supreme spearsman,
archer, tall, ponytail, earrings
iii. Iron heart brave Priam knew best how to defeat the enemy by
winning on the beach, and if not there on the Trojan plain.
Zeus favored Troy. Trojan forces were coalition of Thrace,
Hittites, Macedonia, Anatolia, and Troad
iv. For attacker to win, troops must outnumber defenders by 3:1.
Greeks underestimated that.
v. When Greeks landed wore boar tusk helmets, oxhide tunics,
heavy armor. Their galleys crashed into the beach, trained
infantry nobles led the way
1. Began when Achilles strangled the King of Colonae with
the straps of his helmet
WAR
I. Greek strategy
A. Negotiations to settle war unsuccessful
a. Paris had bribed the Trojan mediator party so wouldn’t agree
to return Helen
B. Ways to conquer fortified city
a. Assault
b. Siege – encircle walls
c. Ruse
C. Greeks had few supply lines to sustain them, so found weak spot in
walls where former gate fell and now rubble
a. Ajax 1 and 2 and Diomedes led fight, men assaulted wall with
battering rams, and ladders and also tunneled beneath. Even
so, Troy held.
II. Year nine
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A. Achilles had destroyed 23 cities – including Thebes, Troad, Scyros,
Tenedos, Lesbos, etc.
B. Malaria attacked the Greek army
a. The prophet announced that Apollo sent an epidemic to
punish Greeks for ignoring Chryses plea for return of his
daughter. Agamemnon had refused. Then Agamemnon and
Achilles fought over another woman kept as a concubine,
Briseis. At last Achilles gave her up, cried to his divine
mother Thetis.
C. Battle resumed – killing fields
a. Achilles was so swift footed he could outrun a man in a
chariot
b. In the Bronze Age archers could hit targets at 300-400
yards away, a top slinger could send a rock at 150 mph and
reach 150 feet
D. Hector wanted a parley/duel between Paris and Menelaus. They
agreed but when Paris was about to be killed a goddess swept him
home and a rogue soldier shot an arrow at Menelaus causing a
flesh wound.
a. Fighting resumed, armies attacked by marching towards
each other with chariots carrying leaders
b. Athena helped the Greeks, Apollo helped the Trojans
c. Diomedes with his sword slaughtered 12 soldiers
d. Brutal fighting – negotiate again. Paris refuses to return
Helen but does offer to return stolen treasures, the Greeks
decline. They break to bury the dead in cremation pyres.
E. Hector attacks the next day – he insults the retreating Diomedes
by calling him less than a women. The soldiers are pushed back
across the Scamander River to the Greek camp.
a. Ag. Rallies his men by putting on a purple robe
b. Hector rallies his men by lighting fires on the Trojan plains
during the night
c. Ag. Sent Odysseus and Diomedes to scout enemy plans, and
they capture the young scout sent by the Trojans. There
are many Greek ambushes. The Trojans now feel hungry,
weak from the blockade.
F. Andromoche begs her husband Hector to not fight that day but he
ignores her. Attacks at dawn.
a. By mid-day the Greeks pushed through to the walls of Troy.
Many wounded so the 2 Ajaxes lead the Greeks. Hector is
hit by rocks and blacks out but Zeus revives him.
b. Trojans regroup, the Greeks run in panic
c. Nestor, the old wise Greek, tells Petroclus to fight on behalf
of Achilles. Achilles gives him his armor and made
Patroclus promise to only drive the enemy from the Greek
camp. There is fierce hand to hand battling. Hector calls
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for a retreat, then Petroclus gets carried away and assaults
the walls. Shot Hector’s charioteer. Petroclus is slayed
when his armor slipped and he was killed.
G. Achilles roars, agrees to fight. Next day he slays many, hunts
down Hector, chases him around Troy 3 times, kills him by a spear
in his neck. Drags Hector’s body around the city until Zeus insists
he return it.
a. Priam goes to beg for recovery of his son’s body.
III. End of the War
A. Written in the Odyssey, the Epic Cycle
B. Paris kills Achilles, by using a poisoned arrow and hitting his heel
C. There is a duel between Ajax and Odysseus and Odysseus declared
winner. Ajax went made and committed suicide.
D. Odysseus is now leader of the Greeks. He ambushes Priam’s seer
son who tells him that Philocetetes with Heracles bow will make
Troy fall. Philocetes was a Greek warrior who sailed with the
Greeks from Aulis but never reached Troy because he had a
disgusting snake wound that didn’t heal for a long time.
Eventually it did, and when he joined up he avenged Achilles by
killing Paris. The Trojans recovered his body and gave him a
decent burial. Helen then married Paris’ brother.
E. Odysseus then went and got Achilles son Neoptolemus to take up
his father’s cause. Devised a plan to trick the Trojans into thinking
they had gone home when instead they retreated to Tenedos.
Lulled Trojans into dropping their guard, then returned for
surprise attack. Spies in the city perhaps in the Trojan Horse lit a
signal fire to bring the Greek fleet back and open the gate. Led to
Greek victory.
F. Andromoche was assigned to Neoptolemus, Priam’s daughter
Cassandra to Agamemnon. Priam’s daughter sacrified at the tomb
of Achilles. Helen returned to Menelaus.
G. Greeks sacked the city and burnt it down. Estimated to be about
1200 BC. Found human bones of 15 year old girl, bronze spear
points, bronze arrowheads, bronze knives.
V. After the war
a. Greeks quarreled among each other.
b. When Agamemnon returned to Mycenaue his wife murdered him
c. Helen drugged Menelaus – still their daughter married Neoptolemus
d. Odysseus spent 10 years returning, most of his men died and enemies
in charge of his household
e. Many dynastic disputes, earthquakes, bad harvests, peasant unrest
f. Troy eventually rebuilt, but not as rich as the old one.
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